LAMENTATIONS Chapter 3 (GNB)
SERAPHIM
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3:1
I am one who knows what it is to be punished by God.
3:2
He drove me deeper and deeper into darkness
3:3
And beat me again and again with merciless blows.
3:4
He has left my flesh open and raw, and has broken my bones.
3:5
He has shut me in a prison of misery and anguish.
3:6
He has forced me to live in the stagnant darkness of death.
3:7
He has bound me in chains; I am a prisoner with no hope of escape.
3:8
I cry aloud for help, but God refuses to listen;
3:9
I stagger as I walk; stone walls block me wherever I
turn.
3:10
He waited for me like a bear; he pounced on me like a lion.
3:11
He chased me off the road, tore me to pieces, and left me.
3:12
He drew his bow and made me the target for his arrows.
3:13
He shot his arrows deep into my body.
3:14
People laugh at me all day long; I am a joke to them all.
3:15
Bitter suffering is all he has given me for food and drink.
3:16
He rubbed my face in the ground and broke my teeth on rocks.
3:17
I have forgotten what health and peace and happiness are.
3:18
I do not have much longer to live; my hope in the LORD is gone.
3:19
The thought of my pain, my homelessness, is bitter poison.
3:20
I think of it constantly, and my spirit is depressed.
3:21
Yet hope returns when I remember this one thing:
3:22
The LORD's unfailing love and mercy still continue,
3:23 Fresh as the morning, as sure as the sunrise.
3:24
The LORD is all I have, and so in him I put my hope.
3:25
The LORD is good to everyone who trusts in him,
3:26
So it is best for us to wait in patience---to wait for him to save us---
3:27
And it is best to learn this patience in our youth.
3:28
When we suffer, we should sit alone in silent patience;
3:29
We should bow in submission, for there may still be hope.
3:30
Though beaten and insulted, we should accept it all.
3:31
The Lord is merciful and will not reject us forever.
3:32
He may bring us sorrow, but his love for us is sure and strong.
3:33
He takes no pleasure in causing us grief or pain.
3:34
The Lord knows when our spirits are crushed in prison;
3:35
He knows when we are denied the rights he gave us;
3:36
When justice is perverted in court, he knows.
3:37
The will of the Lord alone is always carried out.
3:38
Good and evil alike take place at his command.
3:39
Why should we ever complain when we are punished for our sin?
3:40
Let us examine our ways and turn back to the LORD.
3:41
Let us open our hearts to God in heaven and pray,
3:42
"We have sinned and rebelled, and you, O LORD, have not forgiven us.
3:43
"You pursued us and killed us; your mercy was hidden by your anger,
3:44
By a cloud of fury too thick for our prayers to get through.
3:45
You have made us the garbage dump of the world.
3:46
"We are insulted and mocked by all our enemies.
3:47
We have been through disaster and ruin; we live in danger and fear.
3:48
My eyes flow with rivers of tears at the destruction of my people.
3:49
"My tears will pour out in a ceaseless stream
3:50
Until the LORD looks down from heaven and sees us.
3:51
My heart is grieved when I see what has happened to the women of the city.
3:52
"I was trapped like a bird by enemies who had no cause to hate me.
3:53
They threw me alive into a pit and closed the opening with a stone.
3:54
Water began to close over me, and I thought death was near.
3:55
"From the bottom of the pit, O LORD, I cried out to you,
3:56 And when I begged you to listen to my cry, you
heard.
3:57
You answered me and told me not to be afraid.
3:58
"You came to my rescue, Lord, and saved my life.
3:59
Judge in my favor; you know the wrongs done against me.
3:60
You know how my enemies hate me and how they plot against me.
3:61
"You have heard them insult me, O LORD; you know all their plots.
3:62
All day long they talk about me and make their plans.
3:63
From morning till night they make fun of me.
3:64
"Punish them for what they have done, O LORD;
3:65
Curse them and fill them with despair!
3:66
Hunt them down and wipe them off the earth!"
CHAPTER
ENDS
SERAPHIM
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